Fabricio Coloccini has spoken of his pride at being likened to Bobby Moore by his Newcastle boss Alan Pardew – but says his footballing hero will always be... his dad.

The Toon defender’s outstanding display against ­Sunderland last week, when he led his team - with only 10 men - to a draw, led to comparisons with the England World Cup-winning skipper because of his calm interventions and classy ­distribution.

Coloccini explained he knows all about Moore’s heroics and was “honoured” by Pardew’s praise, but he is matching his own career against his father Osvaldo.

The United skipper is playing the best football of his career this season and thriving on being the club’s figurehead.

After a fleeting substitute ­performance against Bruges on Thursday, ­Coloccini said: “I’m very proud the manager compared me to Bobby Moore.

“I have to say thank you to the manager for that ­compliment, he was one of the best players ever to play for England.

“Of course, it would have been nice for him to say Daniel Passarella!

“I knew all about Bobby Moore. He is very famous in ­Argentina, and all over the world because he is one of the best ­footballers of all time.

“But my biggest hero is my father Osvaldo, because he played for 16 years in the first division in ­Argentina. In my career, my aim has always been to get to the level he was at.

“Is he better than me? That is always the ­question!

“It is maybe easy for a player to get to the first ­division, but it is not so easy to stay there for many years like he did.

“I can say I’m better when I have played 16 years in the top division like he did.

“I don’t know if the Sunderland game was my best performance for Newcastle but it was one of my most important.

“We had 10 men and playing our big local rivals so I had to play well because that is an important game. We played with 10 for a long time but we nearly won – that’s maybe why he said what he said about my ­performance.”